Archeologists in Bulgaria have unearthed two medieval skeletons pierced through the chest with iron rods to keep them from turning into vampires.

According to pagan beliefs, people who were considered evil during their lifetimes might turn into vampires after death to feast on the blood of the living unless stabbed in the chest with an iron or wooden rod before being buried.

“These two skeletons stabbed with rods illustrate a practice which was common in some Bulgarian villages up until the first decade of the 20th century,” Bozhidar Dimitrov, the National History Museum chief said Tuesday after the recent find in the Black Sea town of Sozopol.

About 100 similar burials have been found in Bulgaria. The practice was also common in neighbouring Serbia and other Balkan countries.

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